On 19 October 202 BCE, the Battle of Zama was fought in North Africa between the Romans under Scipio Africanus against the Carthaginians under Hannibal Barca during the Second Punic War.
Why did it happen?
Until 203 BCE, Hannibal successfully kept an army of 18,000 men in Southern Italy while the tide of the war turned in Rome’s favour. Between 209-206 BCE, Publius Cornelius Scipio, later known as Scipio Africanus, conquered Carthaginian Spain. When he returned to Rome in 205 BCE, he suggested taking the war to North Africa and attacking Carthage. In 204 BCE, Scipio invaded North Africa and defeated a Carthaginian army at the Battle of the Great Plains. This forced Carthage to sue for peace, but during the armistice, Carthage recalled Hannibal from Italy to North Africa and broke off negotiations with Rome. Hannibal assembled a new army based around his Italian veterans. Still, most of the levies and mercenaries he recruited were inexperienced, and he was outnumbered in cavalry due to Numidia allying with Rome. On 18 October 202 BCE, Hannibal met Scipio on the field of Zama, 130 kilometres southwest of Carthage. During their meeting, Hannibal offered peace terms to ensure that both Carthage and Rome would retain their territories. In response, Scipio reminded Hannibal of the treaty agreed upon during the armistice and that he must “submit yourselves and your country to us unconditionally, or conquer us in the field” (Plb. 15.8). Both sides then departed without coming to terms. The following day, their armies met on the plain of Zama.
Who was involved?
The Roman army at Zama numbered 29,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalry. The Roman infantry was arrayed into four lines: hastati in the first line, principes in the second line, triarii in the third line, and velites in the fourth line. Flanked on both sides were the cavalry with 2,000 Roman cavalry under Gaius Laelius on the left wing and 4,000 Numidian cavalry under Masinissa on the right wing. The Roman strategy at Zama was to counter the Carthaginian elephants by forming lanes into which they could be neutralized while the cavalry outflanked and attacked the Carthaginians in the rear. The Carthaginian army at Zama numbered 36,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry and 80 war elephants. Like the Romans, the Carthaginian infantry was arrayed into three lines of 12,000 men each: Gallic mercenaries in the first line, Carthaginian levies in the second line, and Hannibal’s Italian veterans in the third line. In front of the infantry were 80 war elephants with 2,000 Carthaginian cavalry on both wings under Tychaeus and Maharbal. The Carthaginian strategy at Zama was to disrupt the Roman formation with elephants before engaging the disordered Roman infantry with the first two lines of infantry before committing the fresh Italian veterans to finish off the exhausted Roman legionaries.
What happened?
The battle began with Hannibal ordering his war elephants to charge the Roman infantry. In response, Scipio ordered his legionaries to form lanes in their lines, which corralled the elephants towards the rear to be taken out by the Roman velites. After this, the Roman-Numidian cavalry on the left and right wings charged the Carthaginian cavalry and chased them off the battlefield. Having defeated the Carthaginian elephants and cavalry, Scipio ordered his infantry forward with the Roman legionaries defeating the first two lines of Hannibal’s army. After heavy fighting, Scipio and Hannibal reformed their armies into one line facing each other. Hannibal’s Italian veterans proved equal to the Roman legionaries, and it appeared that the Carthaginian army would prevail. But at that moment, the Roman and Numidian cavalry returned to the battlefield and charged into the rear of the Carthaginian army. Hannibal fled the battlefield, giving victory to Scipio. While the Romans only suffered 1,500 casualties, the Carthaginian losses amounted to 20,000 killed and 15,000 captured.
What changed as a result?
The Battle of Zama was a decisive Roman victory. In the aftermath of the battle, Carthage sued for peace, bringing the Second Punic War to an end. In the treaty of 201 BCE, Carthage was stripped of its overseas territory outside of North Africa and had to pay a war indemnity of 10,000 talents of silver for breaking the truce of 203 BCE. In addition, Carthage’s navy was reduced to 10 warships, and all its war elephants were given to the Romans. At the same time, Carthage had to hand over to Masinissa all of Numidia’s cities and territories occupied by Carthage and export hostages to Rome. Finally, Carthage was not allowed to go to war outside of its territory without the permission of the Roman senate. The victory at Zama ensured Roman domination of the Mediterranean World for the next 600 years. In 149 BCE, a Third Punic War was fought between Rome and Carthage, but despite economic recovery, Carthage posed little military threat to Rome. The war culminated in 146 BCE with the destruction of Carthage and the enslavement of its people.
Bibliography
Grant, R.G. Battle: A Visual Journey Through 5,000 Years of Combat. London, Dorling Kindersley, 2005.
Polybius. Histories. Translated by Evelyn S. Shuckburgh. New York, Macmillan, 1889.
Rodgers, Nigel. The History and Conquests of Ancient Rome. London, Hermes House, 2007.